African Union to US: ‘You took our people as slaves but not refugees’

Representatives from the African Union met for a two-day summit in Addis Ababa, during which time the head of the AU criticized President Donald Trump’s recent immigration and refugee ban, calling it “one of the greatest challenges” for the African continent.

“The very country to which many of our people were taken as slaves during the transatlantic slave trade has now decided to ban refugees from some of our countries,” said Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma in a statement in which he also stated that the African Union was entering “very turbulent times” since the election of Donald Trump in 2016.

“What do we do about this? Indeed, this is one of the greatest challenges to our unity and solidarity,” Zuma continued.

The UN Secretary General also addressed the AU, praising them for opening their borders to refugees.

“African nations are among the world’s largest and most generous hosts of refugees,” said Antonio Guterres, who was attending the summit in Ethiopia for the first time in his position as secretary general. “African borders remain open for those in need of protection when so many borders are being closed, even in the most developed countries in the world.”